Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management

Volume 2 Issue 2

Calculation of Quantity of Earthwork and Generating Sectional

Drawings with – Robust Software CSx
Asif Ahmad Ansari1, Dr. Shubha Agrawal2*
1
Research Scholar, 2Professor and Head
Department of Civil Engineering, LNCT, Bhopal, India.
*Corresponding Author
E-mail ID:-asifansari19@gmail.com1, shubha188@gmail.com2

ABSTRACT
In a new highway project, the engineer has to plan, design and construct either a net – work
of a new road or a road link. There are also projects requiring re-design and re-alignment of
existing roads for upgrading the geometric design standards. In most of frequently used
methods for earthwork quantity calculation, the valuation of accuracy may contain some
uncertainties. This article discusses the relationship between the manual process and digital
process data for earthwork calculation and how to easily create a better profile for any road
construction for smoothness in driving with safety parameters. The main purpose of this
research is to propagate error. In this a formula is formed which expresses the earthwork
quantity relationship that how the errors of manual data effects the accuracy of earthwork
calculation using the digital approach. By setting the different values of the parameters, we
can calculate the relative errors. At last, we have also discussed the calculation of earthwork
quantity using the software sources as well as focused on profile of road, cross section, slope
and gradient also etc. The work of profile correction and earthwork is the main step in any
highway Engineering. So, it is very necessary for any contractor to carry this work with full
precautions and complete the work without any errors in the calculation. The highway and
road works or the drainage constructions are very important constructions as it shows the
economy of a country. It beautifies the surrounding of a place. If the design of road and
profile is not done properly then it may lead to many accidents and other major losses can
occur. So, it is important for all the road profile designers to design a proper profile by
which the vision, sight distance and curve gets clear technically. And with this we have to
make sure that the quantity of earthwork according to road condition should be economically
suitable. But seeing today’s scenario which is coming up in Advance Technology
Construction field, such as heavy machinery equipment which can complete any work in a
short time and in a situation, where work need to be completed in short time, it would be very
difficult to calculate the quantity in the old way and if the old way is adopted then it will take
a lot of time to complete the work so that to get rid of problem and to bring progress and
accuracy to work, we get a lot of help from this software.

Keywords:-Slope Gradient, Cut and Fill, Buffer, Delimited Text Layer, Elevation Terrain

INTRODUCTION Water Network Project also. It is a type of

"Csx" is a comprehensive section creation
and management solution that is designed
to help the engineers, surveyors and
designers to create the industry standard
drawings and to generate quick calculation
reports related to road construction,
Railway line, Irrigation, Pipeline Design,
complete software solution for generating
L - sections and Cross section, converting
surveying data into the drawings. For
creating the drawing, we have to import
the survey data from the Excel sheet such
as L section and cross section. The
parameters of design are also included in

HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved Page 1

 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
software such as camber, side slope,
thickness parameter, berm slope, widening
layer etc.
Road work or drainage work need lots of
construction. The major parts in earthwork
is cut and fill which should be done
properly so that further construction part
can be carried out easily. In CSx the cut
and fill of any path can be calculated
easily.
Once the road alignment is created on the
elevation map then that path can be
processed to calculate the total cut and fill.
There is certain mathematical formula
through which cut and fill of the path is
calculated at any point. This process done
with the help of software helps in further
process.
The main advantages of these Software
calculations are:
1. Less or no manual work will be
required.
2. Quick calculations and results.
3. Complete earthwork is calculated
easily without any cumbersome
calculations and errors.
4. Estimates of earthwork can be
prepared.
5. Total cost of project can be estimated
once the earthwork is calculated.
6. More than one path can be tested
through the software.
7. Suitability of the path can be tested
easily with the terrain graph.
8. It becomes feasible to decide a fix
datum with the generated readings of
the terrain graph.
9. The suitability of the complete project
can be checked through software.
10. We can easily draw Longitudinal
profile of road according to RL‟s and
as well as create Cross Section of road
as per field requirement.
11. Help for improving better riding
quality on road CSx give us option for
gradient and slope maintain function.
HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved
Volume 2 Issue 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Hintz & Vonderohe (2011)
Reliable and precise calculation of
earthwork quantity is one of the most
significant elements in pavement
engineering that can affect the selection of
road alignment, price and design. As the
Digital Terrain Model (DTM) appearance
and widespread implementation, highway
design has entered the 3D era and 3D
technique for earthwork quantity
calculation is also being created. But in
highway design, the idea of adopting
average-end-area technique (hereafter also
as a 2D technique) is deeply rooted.
According to a U.S. inquiry, 87 percent
and 91 percent developers use average-
end-area respectively for design estimates
and final volumes, and 97 percent of
participants acknowledge average-end-area
in their policies, norms and procedural
papers.[1]
Ragab Khalil (2015)
Typical applications in civil engineering
are volume estimation and earthworks
calculation of borrowing pits in road
construction. Although several techniques
have been implemented for quantity
estimation, the average end area technique
remains the prevalent technique used by
engineer and contractors Average end area
technique is time consuming and tedious.
The volume of terrains that do not have a
periodic geometric structure can be more
correctly achieved by using 3D surface
models with regard to technology
development such as GIS. The grid
method & point distribution method are
important factors in modelling of earth
surfaces used for quantity calculation. This
study shows the reliability of 3D volume
calculation based on GRID system or
Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) using
the GIS. The effects of interpolation
method and point distribution in defining a
terrain surface were also investigated. For
this purpose, an artificial surface with a
known volume that used by Chen and Lin
Page 2
 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
in their paper is employed. For both
surfaces represented by TIN and GRIDs,
the 3D surface and volume are calculated
using 6 distinct method. And the resulting
volumes were compared with the exact
volume calculation estimated by using
average end area method. Furthermore, a
comparison between cut volume and fill
volumes required for grading the study
cases at a positive elevation was done.
Finally, the results show that for slope
surface, Triangular Irregular Network and
all interpolation techniques provided
results very close to the exact calculation.
For steep slope terrain, Kriging
interpolation gave the best results.
Comparing earthwork volume to the
average end area method, TIN surface,
IDW, Topo to raster and Nearest
Neighbour methods gave the best results
[2].
Selcuk Gumus
In Turkey, forestry studies are carried out
in separate parts of the nation on a region
of 20 million ha. Working in such a
widespread and mostly mountainous
region is only feasible if these regions
have a well-built forest road network. And
the forest area road construction works
grounded on General Forest Road Network
Strategies began in Turkey country in
1964 & ended in 1974. At present, only
60% of the forest area roads we need have
been completed.
The aim of this research is to calculate the
cut and fill quantity with analyses of
digital terrain models obtained from
geographic information systems to
decrease expenses. Four forest road
projects were selected as study locations
within the boundaries of Antalya Forest
Regional Directorate, Sütleğen and
Lengüme Forest Enterprise. The results for
each portion of the highway were achieved
by calculating the cut and fill difference
between the cut volume and fill volume
quantities and determining the surface
HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved
Volume 2 Issue 2
area. The grades of the slopes in the land
where the streets were built were achieved
using a digital terrain model. Calculating
cut and fill volumes, and using these
calculations in the phase of determining
various choices within the planning
process, considerably reduces the expenses
and the time spent on the plans and
projects of forest roads. These calculations
should be taken into consideration before
the roads are constructed [3].
The earthwork volume calculation is the
most important points in vertical and
horizontal alignment optimization, so the
most studies firstly focused on the cut and
fill volume balancing to minimize the
expenses. Stark and Nicholls (1972) began
using linear earthwork optimization
programming, and Mayer and Stark (1981)
and Nandgaonkar (1981) created this
technique Easa (1988) [4] incorporated
road grade selection and earthwork
minimization into one issue by listing all
technically viable grades and solving the
issue of linear programming. But the
technique of Easa could not ensure
worldwide optimality, so Moreb (1996) [5]
suggested a model which not only
succeeded in decreasing the time issue but
also in achieving worldwide optimality
based on the principle of Easa. Goktepe
and Lav (2003) [6] then developed a
method called weighted ground elevation
that considered the material properties in
grade line selection to balance the cut and
fill volume. All this research was
conducted by average-end-method.
When some scientists realized the
inaccuracy and constraints of the 2D
technique in quantity calculation (Easa,
1989 [7] and 1992 [8]), they began to
create some changes in the average end
technique. The most familiar enhancement
for us is the prismoid formula that can
improve the precision. Anderson, Hikhail
and Woolnough [9] (1985) submitted a
Pappus-based model for the horizontal
Page 3
 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
curved region volume calculation. Easa
(1992) [10] created a mathematical model
that calculates earthwork quantities on the
basis of triple horizontal curve integration,
but it was relevant when the longitudinal
ground profile varied linearly between the
stations and the floor cross-slope between
the stations. Thus Easa (2003) [11]
estimated earthwork volumes calculation
of curved roadways in Monte Carlo
simulation technique but this model has
not yet been expanded to mixed road
alignments (where horizontal and vertical
curves overlap). Kim and Schonfeld
(2001) [12] introduced two methods using
vector and parametric representation for
precisely estimating cross sectional areas
of excavation or fill to minimize errors in
the total earthwork cost calculation.
In 2004 Yachiyo Engineering Company,
Ltd. of Japan began adopting 3D design
for a wider range of projects using
Autodesk‟s Civil 3D. Yachiyo claims
using 3D design allows for faster
completion and more efficient designs,
taking on tasks in house that would
otherwise need to completed by
outsources, and improve precision of route
selection.
The first 3D-designed project developed
by Yachiyo was for a hilly region highway
engineering, including three kilometres
along a ridge. Yachiyo confronted a
significant challenge with rigid public
regulations and the cost constraints.
Yachiyo started using the 3D design by
inputting longitudinal 3D data and used
the cleanup function of Civil 3D to
generate a polyline from existing drawings
automatically and to add elevation data.
Designers continued by created horizontal
alignment using a topographic model. It
took only 20 hours to produce final output
of longitudinal and cross section diagrams
for the new route.
Thus, 3D design greatly expedited the
design process for Yachiyo Engineering
HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved
Volume 2 Issue 2
Company, Ltd. The head manager of
Techology Division 1 at Yachiyo also
stated, “Civil 3D is great for other tasks,
such as calculating soil volume” [13].
MATHEMATICAL STANDPOINT
FOR CALCULATING
VOLUME/QUANTITY (CUT & FILL)
Depth Area Method (DAM)
This is the simplest method for calculating
the earthwork volume. In this method, the
thickness of strata to be excavated is
multiplied by the surface area of the strata.
This can be done with any reasonable
accuracy but the stratum has to be
consistently thick and area extent must be
known. It is suitable for estimating the
amount of top soil to be stripped at a
consistent depth (usually 15 cm).
Formula: V=T*A*(1/27)
Where,
V= volume (cubic yards)
A= surface slope area (square feet)
T= thickness of strata or even cut (feet)
Grid Method (GM)
This method is also known as Borrow Pit
Method. This method is the extended form
of the Depth Area Method (DAM) i.e. it
extends DAM to an extent of varying
depths. Borrow pit levelling calculate the
volume by using a grid to the excavation
area. These grids are arranged in the form
of squares. For every grid square, final
elevation established for every corner of
the grid square. These are subtracted from
the existing elevations at the same Point to
evaluate the depth of cut or fill of every
corner.
Formula: V=
((D1+D2+D3+D4)/4)*A*(1/27)
Where,
V= volume (cubic yards)
A= area of grid square (square feet)
D= depth of cut or fill at each corner (feet)
End Area Method (EAM)
It utilizes the area of parallel cross sections
at regular intervals through the proposed
Page 4
 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
Volume 2 Issue 2

earthwork volume. They are aligned under the MPRRDA, Project

perpendicular to a baseline that extends the Implementation Unit, Ratlam.
entire length of the excavation area. These
cross sections can be generated by CADD METHODOLOGY
or drawn by hand. STEP 1 (Data Source):-The source of
Formula: V= L*((A1 + A2)/2)*(1/27) data is observed cross-sectional points by
Where, Auto level at every 10m apart.
V = volume (cubic yards) STEP 2 (Data Formatting):- For data
A = area of adjacent cross section (square formatting we are calculate all of the RL‟s
feet) related to the road survey arrange as per
L = distance between cross section along change wise either manually or with the
the baseline (feet) help of software.
In software RL CALCULATION is
Prismoidal Formula (PF) command This command is available for
This formula is more accurate than the vertical data format only as shown above.
Method of End Area (EAM). If ground Now we want to calculate RL values in
surface between cross sections is not column „G‟ & H.I. in column „F‟. start
uniform or irregular then this formula is AutoCAD. Type „rlcalcu‟ and press enter
used. This technique brings between two or select „RL Calculations‟ command from
cross-sections a midway region and this „CSx‟ menu
region is not the average between two end
fields.
Formula: V = L*((A1 + (4*Am) + A2)/6)
* (1/27)
Where,
V = volume (cubic yards)
A1, A2 = area of adjacent cross sections
(square feet)
Fig.1: RL Calculation
Am = area of midway cross section
(square feet)
STEP 3 (Draw L-Section):- The
L = distance between cross section along
Longitudinal design of roads is concerned
the baseline (feet).
with the positioning of the physical
elements of the roadway according to
SOFTWARE STANDPOINT FOR
standards and constraints. The basic
CALCULATING
objectives in longitudinal design are to
VOLUME/QUANTITY (CUT & FILL)
optimize efficiency and safety while
Objective
minimizing cost and environmental
The objective is creating the better profile
damage.
for road construction for overcome the
For creating L Section firstly check all of
inoperable gradient of road and as well as
the RL‟s carefully according to the height
minimized the earth work calculation so to
and depth of the place where road is
exactly estimate the amount of cut and fill
constructed and after that go to AutoCAD
in the construction area.
open new blank file. Give „Lsec‟
command or select „Lsec‟ from „CSx‟
Study Area
menu again. A box will display:
The study area is „MHOW NEEMUCH
HIGHWAY TO RAJASTHAN BORDER‟
located at 2344‟01”N 7503‟56”E project

HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved Page 5

 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
Fig.2: L-Section Command
After this step a box will open where insert
all the parameter related to the L-Section
like, RL values, range etc. After giving all
parameters, select „OK‟ button. After few
seconds following prompts will display in
command prompt area:Give Range for L
section
Fig.3: L-Section
STEP 4 (Quantity Calculation):- For
quantity calculation we are using the Csx
command for calculating the quantity of
cut and fill of uneven surface and as well
as create Cross Section drawing also.
Fig.4: Csx Command
After that a box will open fill up all the
parameter related to the csx command now
„GL‟, „Other‟, „Colour‟ and „Heading‟
sheets are ready. Save the XLS data file.
Open a new blank file in AutoCAD. Give
„CSx‟ command to generate all cross
sections and quantity statement file. Type
HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved
Volume 2 Issue 2
„CSx‟ in command prompt and press enter
or select „CSx‟ from „CSx‟ menu. This
will display:
Fig.5: Csx Menu
Click „Browse‟ button to select your XLS
data file if required. On „Other‟, „Heading‟
and „Colour‟ switches. „GL‟ switch is
always „ON‟. Select „OK‟ button. Give a
range for example if you want quantity
from ch. 0 to ch. 1000, type „0-1000‟ and
press enter. Here we want quantity from
start to end, hence press enter for <All>.
This will display:
Fig.6: Quantity Calculation Command
Parameters
1. Quantity-*.xls :- Gives a quantity
statement file.
2. LSdataTransfer.xls :- Gives a file
contains centre RL of all layers.
„ChRLtransfer.xls‟ gives a file contains all
RLs of all layers.
3. AreaCalTable.txt/xls :- Gives
„AreaCAlTable.xls‟ file for banking and
cutting area calculations.
4. AreaCAlTable.txt :- file for all layer‟s
area calculations.
5. Replace all existing files:- To replace
all old „DWG‟ and above mansion files, if
you repeat the same project.
6. Create DWG files :- to make cross
Page 6
 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
section DWG (drawing) files. If you off
this, DWG files will not create and only
quantity will display quickly, because time
to be required to make DWG files will
save.
Click „OK‟ button.
After creating all cross sections one by one
in few seconds, this will display:
Fig.7: Quantity Calculation Result
Cross Section
Fig.8: Cross Section
RESULT
From the above procedures followed in
software approach and formulas used in
mathematical approach, it is crystal clear
that calculating the volume of cut and fill
in earthworks is a time taking and long
procedural task. From the software
approach it is inferred that by sitting at one
place one can plan the construction of any
canal, road works or river interlinking. The
software approach makes it easy for the
engineer to estimate the amount of work
that has to be carried in constructing any
canal, road or river interlinking path. The
software approach leads to easy problem-
solving methods. Selection of proper
datum for the process of cut and fill is very
important step in software approach. Here
we have decided some datum and got the
HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved
Volume 2 Issue 2
values of cut and fill at different points on
the selected path. These values can be used
for further process of estimation.
The graph generated after the creation of
path on the elevation map of the study area
helps in deciding the datum. Datum value
can vary from person to person. But datum
selection should be such that minimum cut
and fill is required. In this way the project
becomes economical.
DISCUSSION
From the above discussed software
approach, it becomes easy for any user to
calculate the cut and fill of any respective
path. But this calculation through software
is never 100% accurate. As mentioned
earlier that any estimator has to visit the
site for proper estimation of earthwork
volume. Due to continuous change in
physical strata no software can achieve
100% accuracy in calculating the volume
of cut and fill. Software approach although
saves time and the mathematical
calculations are accurate but the process of
visiting the site is not eliminated
completely. This CSx software has
accurate calculations but the on-site
calculations are very necessary so that any
earthwork that has to be constructed is safe
and sound. Once the calculated values
match the on-site calculations, the work
can be proceeded. Hence for the
construction of any earthwork, estimator
or contractor must cross-check the values
obtained through manual calculation and
software calculations.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
STATEMENT
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding
author states that there is no conflict of
interest.
REFERENCES
1. Hintz, C.,Vonderohe, A.P. (2011).
Comparison of Earthwork
Computation Methods. Proceeding of
Page 7
 Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Project Management
Volume 2 Issue 2

TRB 2011 Annual 8. Easa, S. Discussion of Cut and Fill

Meeting,Washington DC. Calculations by Modified Average-
2. Selcuk Gumus[1], H. Hulusi Acar, End-Area Method by James W. Epps
Metin Tunay and Ayhan Atesoğlu. and Marion W.Corey. Journal of
Calculation of Cut and Fill Volumes Transportation
By Gis In Forest Road Projecting. Engineering.1992.118(4):600601p.
3. Seyed Ataollah et. al. Comparing the 9. Anderson, J. M., Hikhail, E. M., &
expenses of forest road cut and fill Woolnough, D. F. (1985).
operations with standard rules (Study Introduction to surveying, New York:
Area: Northern Forests of Iran). McGraw-Hill.
4. Easa, S. (1988). Selection of Roadway 10. Easa, S. Estimating Earthwork
Grades that Minimize Earthwork Cost Volumes of Curved Roadways-
Using Linear Programming. Mathematical Model. Journal of
Transportation Transportation Engineering.
Research.1988.22(2):121136p. 1992.118(6):834849p.
5. Moreb, A.A. (1996). Linear 11. Easa, S. Estimating Earthwork
Programming Model for Finding Volumes of Curved Roadways-
Optimal Roadway Grades that Simulation Model. Journal of
Minimize Earthwork Cost. European Surveying Engineering.
Journal of Operational 2003.129(1):1927p.
Research,1996.93,148154p. 12. Kim, E., Schonfeld, P. Estimating
6. Goktepe, A.B., & Lav, A.H. (2003). Highway Earthwork Cross Sections
Method for Balancing Cut-Fill and Using Vector and Parametric
Minimizing the Amount of Earthwork Representation. Proceeding of TRB
in the Geometric Design of Highway. 2001 Annual Meeting, Washington
Journal of Transportation DC.
Engineering.2003.129(5):564571p. 13. Hatake, K. (2006). Next-Generation
7. Easa, S. Journal of Surveying Civil Design. Retrieved November
Engineering.1989.115(3):356359p. 15,2008.

HBRP Publication Page 1-8 2019. All Rights Reserved Page 8